Innholdsfortegnelse for Summer 2018-2019 i Kruger Magazine

Summer is here and the rainy season for the upper part of South Africa has started. This means beautiful shades of green are appearing all over the Greater Kruger region. Newborn animal babies everywhere make all our amateur photographers grab their cameras for that winning photograph. And our amateur photographers have once again showered our Amateur Photo Competition with stunning entries. Congratulations to our top 10 entries, and our Most Favourite entry, which our members voted for, on page 74. On page 30 we feature the exquisite cheetah followed by EWT’s Cheetah Photographic Census – our choice of the deserving project for this issue. It is always an eye-opener when it comes to projects like these. Many of these projects are unknown and we do not always realise that many…

For non-stop action and sheer diversity of sightings, the Sunset Dam at Lower Sabie is hard to beat! Considering that the best spots for early morning photography face west to get the best light, the dam is ideally situated. An added advantage is that you can drive very close to the s edge on (H-), giving you the opportunity to do full-frame shots of a wide variety of subjects. We make frequent visits to the dam when staying in the southern part of the park and more often than not, when we stay at Lower Sabie camp we head up the gate-opening queue to get a ringside position at the dam. A wide variety of waders and other water birds are particularly active in the early morning.…

Remembering good times is awesome, but remembering that first time you did something amazing in your life is precious, and a good way to start any conversation. It is also a way of connecting with people, for enjoyable ‘first times’ are normally shared without reservation. It is the enjoyable things in our lives that create bonds of friendship and kinship among like-minded individuals. In Issue 3 – Autumn 2018, we wrote about KNP opening its doors to the public in 1926, and how amazing it must have been to have been there in those days. We also asked readers to share their first-time visits to the Greater Kruger. We received quite a number of responses! We hope to receive lots more. My love of the Kruger National Park started out…

« Joep Stevens is a keen historian who was introduced to the Kruger National Park by his parents in 1966. This ignited his interest in and passion for the Park. In Issue 5 of KRUGER MAGAZINE, we looked at the maturing years of the Kruger National Park (1981 to 1994). In our summer edition, we start a new feature under History, namely that of the camps. The first thereof looks at those that are no longer. Gorge 23:59:56 South 31:49:24 East “Gorge was one of a very few camps of which the location was chosen for reasons relating to aesthetics or scenery in the very early years of tourism development of the Park. ” Gorge (also referred to as Olifants Gorge and Olifantspoort) was located on the southern bank of…

During the annual Ecological Aerial Surveys conducted in the Kruger, impala was included in the census. In their favoured areas with large herds accurate counts could not be made and was it necessary to estimate their numbers. From random checks it was found that quite accurate records of herds of up to 40 were recorded with undercounts due to conservative estimates creeping in with the larger herds. However, the number of large herds was significantly smaller than the more accurately counted smaller herds. From these counts it was estimated that the census results represented roughly 65% to 70% of the actual population. Impala, therefore, actually totalled well over 200 000 for the Park rather than the 130 000 recorded.…

This group of people have, through their studies of elephants over the past 20 years, opened our eyes to innovative ways to best manage expanding populations in fenced reserves within South Africa. The elephant has always been, and will always be, one of the icons of our nature reserves and parks. The fascinating outcome of the study done on the movements of elephants ensures as little human-elephant conflict as possible, to ensure we as nature lovers will always have the privilege of being able to enjoy these gentle giants. Our donation to this worthy project, which we featured in issue 4 of KRUGER MAGAZINE, humbles us. With the good news about our donation, we received a thank you note from Harriet Nimmo, Development Manager for Elephants Alive: “A very big…

Talamati Bushveld Camp is one of five bushveld camps of SANParks. Set on the western boundary of the Park, its nearest gate is at Orpen, about 31km to the north, and Satara rest camp about 52km away. Talamati Camp forms part of a relatively new concept in bush lodges for Kruger National Park (KNP) accommodation, whereby smaller, more luxurious camps are built in the more remote areas of the park. In Xitsonga, the word talamati means ‘lots of water’ – but despite the meaning of the word, the river is actually dry. Fortunately the clay soil holds a vast reservoir of underground water, which keeps the vegetation lush all year round. Situated in a large open valley, the grassland in the area attracts large herds of grazers, like buffalo, blue…

“Every four to five years, the Endangered Wildlife Trust conducts a photographic census that is completely reliant on photographic submissions by the general public.” Cheetahs have come to occupy an erroneous place in the human imagination. Most people envisage an elegant and docile predator roaming the vast open grassland plains of East Africa, casually assumed to be the conservation stronghold of the species. This is an assumption that many South Africans share thanks to widely publicised wildlife documentaries filmed in East Africa. The Kruger National Park has a special place in many South Africans’ heart, but few of us realise that as we make our way down to the Lowveld for a weekend in ‘The Park’, we are about to enter the world’s number one protected area from a cheetah…

“In ecological terms, the knob-thorn is one of the most important tree species of the Kruger and together with the marula, can be regarded as a keystone species.” « Nick Zambatis was the former Manager: Biodiversity Conservation in Conservation Management: Kruger National Park. He retired in 2016. His first job in the Kruger was as a research technician based at Skukuza, which he started in 1987. “The  transfer from Pretoria to the Lowveld was ecstasy and the Kruger appointment was a dream come true,” he recalls. He holds an MSc degree on the determinants of grass composition and production in the Kruger National Park, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. General description and identification The knob-thorn, Senegalia nigrescens (until recently, Acacia nigrescens), is a medium to large deciduous thorn-tree, up to…

RETURNAfrica’s Pafuri Camp is situated in the 26 000ha Makuleke Contractual Park, the far-most northern portion of the Kruger National Park. In 1994, which marked the end of South Africa’s apartheid era, the Makuleke people claimed back their ancestral land that they were relocated from in 1969. In a landmark restitution in 1998, the Makuleke Community regained ownership of their land, but instead of returning, they decided to keep the conservation status of the area with full commercial rights for ecotourism – a wise decision, for the benefit of the community as well as the wildlife it sustains. As part of the agreement, RETURNAfrica pays a concession fee for the use of the Makuleke land. Amongst other initiatives, RETURNAfrica also creates jobs, transfers skills, supports local entrepreneurs and invests in…

“Scorpions are one of the oldest animals on earth still living today. Their evolutionary history extends back to the Silurian era that goes back 430 million years.” « Donald Strydom runs the Kinyonga Reptile Centre, formerly known as Swadini Reptile Park, which was founded in 1984. He has been involved in the filming of approximately 50 documentaries and has worked with Sir  David Attenborough. Through the Kinyonga Reptile Centre, Donald has established the Help Endangered Reptile Project (HerP), which focuses on conservation through education and research. Scorpions belong to the Order or Family group Scorpiones of the Class Arachnida. Arachnids world-wide make up 11 Orders in total that include the likes of spiders, centipedes, ticks, camel spiders and whip scorpions, to mention a few. There are approximately 160 species of…

“There is nothing like experiencing the anticipation of what your day’s sightings will be.” It is always a good idea to plan your route the night before – and make sure you pack everything you need to make a day of it. Charge your camera’s batteries and download your photographs so that you don’t run out of space on your SD-card at that crucial moment. Morning self-drive Early morning game drives are usually the best – wake up early, pack a picnic basket and a flask with steaming coffee, and drive to the gate. While you wait for the gate to open, get out of the car and pour your first cup of coffee. There is nothing like experiencing the anticipation of what your day’s sightings will be. At Talamati…

“Maseke Game Reserve is home to the Tambuzi Baobab Camp. In Swahili the word ‘tambuzi’ means ‘intelligent and aware’.” Situated on the R40 between Hoedspruit and Phalaborwa in the Limpopo Province, is the Maseke Game Reserve, a relatively unknown reserve in the corner of the Balule Nature Reserve. Maseke stretches over 8 000ha in the Greater Kruger, with very few lodges and camps, and shares open borders with the Kruger National Park and neighbouring reserves, giving guests an amazing wildlife experience. Maseke Game Reserve is home to the Tambuzi Baobab Camp. In Swahili the word ‘tambuzi’ means ‘intelligent and aware’. A baobab tree towers above yellow fever trees offering shade in the centre of the camp, and a watering hole in front of the camp makes for excellent wildlife viewing.…

« Roger de la Harpe is a freelance photographer based in South Africa. He has long had a passion for conservation, natural history, wild places and indigenous cultures and has plied his trade in various regions of the African continent for 25 years. With his wife, Pat, he has published 27 coffee-table books, the most recent of which, African Icons ,  celebrates Africa’s most iconic features and creatures. Two previous books, In Search of the African Wild Dog and In Search of the African Lion, have a strong conservation focus. Roger and Pat also own and manage Africa Imagery, an online database of over 45 000 images of the people, wildlife and landscapes of the African continent. How would you like to shoot better pics right now?…

« Salomon Joubert (Dr SCJ Joubert) started his conservation career in 1964 as a postgraduate student in the Sabi Sand Wildtuin, and was appointed to the Kruger National Park as Junior Ranger at the end of 1964, stationed at the remote Klipkoppies Section on the Mozambique border (due east of Letaba). In 1967, he was granted study leave to do a BSc (Hon) (Wildlife Management) degree at Pretoria University. In November 1967, he was transferred to the Research Section with responsibility for rare antelope, in particular roan. For his work on the social behaviour of roan, he was awarded an MSc and subsequently a DSc degree on the population ecology of roan. In 1976, he was promoted to Head of Research and was intimately involved in monitoring large mammal populations,…

As lovely as the other two parts were, with Cape Town having so much to offer in its surroundings too, the Kruger stole our hearts from the moment we entered Malelane Gate that year. We love a hot summer beach holiday around June in the likes of Dubai, Egypt, etc. but immediately upon our return that year we both decided we wanted to return to the Kruger and specifically Jock Safari Lodge, whatever the cost. This has since become an annual tradition for us: suntan in June, marvel at wildlife in September/October and then work the rest of the year, saving and dreaming of Kruger adventures to come. The evolution of our visits has been an experience in itself. The first time was via O.R. Tambo to Mpumalanga Airport and…